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Miami Dolphins Talking Points: Chan Gailey talks up sagging rivalry

Certainly seems our plea for everyone to get past the Sal Alosi shenanigans fell on deaf ears, with Alosi himself assuring Wednesday it plays out a little longer. Sorry, but like Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, we’re on to other things. Hey, it’s Buffalo week.

1. Chan Gailey is doing his best to stir up a rivalry that has gotten pretty tame in recent years.

Buffalo is 3-10, hasn’t been to the playoffs forever and has lost five of the teams’ last six meetings, so most Dolfans are viewing this as a ho-hum game that should be an easy win – and shame on Miami if it isn’t.

Gailey, the onetime Dolphins’ offensive coordinator who is in his first season as Bills’ coach, was asked if the Miami-Buffalo rivalry still stirs the natives up his way. To say he took the bait is putting it mildly.

“Nobody up here likes Miami, let’s be honest,” he replied. “It’s been that way before I got here and it’ll be that way after I leave. These two teams don’t like each other. So you deal with the circumstances of what it is, and enjoy the moment, because you love it when two teams that don’t like each other go play.”

2. Punter Brandon Fields got robbed on Player of the Week award this week.

Baltimore kick returner David Reed had an impressive performance against Houston to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, taking a kickoff back 103 yards and amassing 233 yards on kickoff returns, the second-most in Ravens’ history. But there’s no way he had a bigger impact on his game than Fields had on the Dolphins-Jets.

Routinely punting from deep in his own end after stalled Miami drives, Fields repeatedly pinned the Jets deep in their territory, forcing them to traverse a long field against a stingy Dolphin defense. Both his 56.4 yards per kick and his 49.9 yards net bordered on the incredible, making it one of the top punting performance in franchise history.

Punters are forever being overlooked by the powers that be. Fields is just another example.

3. Lee Evans’ absence is going to be tough for the Bills to overcome.

The Dolphins had their struggles playing two-and-a-half games without leading receiver Brandon Marshall. Now the Bills, who are more reliant on the pass than Miami, has a similar situation after losing Lee Evans for the remainder of the season to an ankle injury.

“Anytime you lose a guy like that it’s going to have a pretty big impact on your passing game,” Gailey said. “You’ll never replace a Lee Evans; you just hope to spread the ball around a little more and help people try to make plays. It’s not something you want to think about or go through. Miami had to do it without Brandon, play a few games, and it’s never easy to go without a guy you count on.”

Without Evans, Steve Johnson, who leads the team in catches with 66, becomes Ryan Fitzpatrick’s top target and guys like Roscoe Parrish and Shawn Nelson play more prominent roles. Don’t be surprised if Fitzpatrick tries to throw to his backs more as a result.